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THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 
And Other Poems 



The Might of 
Manhattan 



And Other Poems 



"^ 



By JOSEPH D. McMANUS 



CHARLES FRANCIS PRESS 

Printing Crafts Building 

New York 






Copyright, 1919 
By JOSEPH D. McMANUS 



U559108 



DEC 20 1919 



a CONTENTS 

*^ PAGE 

s? The Might of Manhattan 1 1 

tjti The Call of the Country 35 

Katy East And Katy West 37 

In Metarie Cemetery 41 

Approaching Honolulu 43 

War's Harvest 45 

Mob 47 

True Expression 50 

By the Grave of Poe 51 

The Dream-Siren 53 

The Muse in Misfortune 56 

The Regular Soldier 57 

The Lowest Rank 60 

Fleeting Thought 61 

Vernal Morn and Eve 62 

Valentine's Day 63 

Lines to a Young Lady 64 

In Life's Autumn 65 

Loneliness 65 

The Libertine's Lament 66 

Two Prayers 67 







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THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



H 



ow MIGHTY is the forest oak whose span 
Broad centuries of steady growth uprear! 
But mightier are the towering works of man 
Wrought in the narrow compass of a year, 
And mightiest on Manhattan they appear 
To grace this wonder isle, — this throbbing mart, — 

Which drains the pulses of a hemisphere 
To claim the best that Wealth and Skill impart 
And lift a lofty skyline, radiant with Art. 



12 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



II 

A diadem by day, a great glow-worm 
At night, encanopies the hives of trade, 

Where Mammon's lure, deep, sentiment and firm, 
Holds myriad minions fretful and afraid 
Lest they be gripped so tightly, all plans laid 

For winning or for gaining fall to ground; 
Yet, over all, the spirit that has made 

Manhattan's grit and greatness world-renowned 

Shines in that superb skyline where success is 
crowned. 



Ill 

Huge panoramic signboard where, behold! 

Proud Progress paints her own advertisement; 
Can Commerce cast herself in statelier mold 

Or Business build a worthier monument? 

The practical and artistic here are blent 
In harmony: Colossal towers and domes 

Are silhouetted in the firmament 
With splendours that were once Imperial Rome's 
Chief boast, in public pomp and luxury of homes. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 13 



IV 

Mount, mimic miniature Alps! in serried files 

Of many-storied structures reared in pride, 
Within a radius of a dozen miles 

Here half-a-dozen million souls reside, — 

A medley of all nations unified 
In mutual uplift to participate: 

Consider what this ever-rising tide 
Of compact human energy will create 
For generations, yet unborn, to contemplate. 



V 

Charmed crucible! wherein constructive force 
Enfetters those twin-tyrants, Time and Space, 

With marvels of invention and resource 
That comfort and convenience find a place: 
Unrivalled is Manhattan in the race 

For world supremacy; can fate withstand 
Intensive Industry's prodigious pace 

Which Destiny and Duty both demand, — 

The hope of humankind when armaments disband. 



14 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



VI 

But if earth's potentates In league with Mars 
Ordain that all millennium efforts cease, 

That Science seek her laurel wreaths in wars, 
That arms are indispensable to peace. 
Then let the nation's armaments increase 

And multiply the arsenals and forts 
To be prepared for challenge or caprice 

Of foreign foes that plan with trained cohorts 

To levy tribute on the richest of seaports. 



VII 

The ideal state is where the people's voice 
Is heard and heeded for the common weal, 

Not where conscripted troops, the despot's choice. 
Implant subservience with an iron heel. 
From whose oppression there is no appeal; 

To rule by right divine is feudal creed 

Founded on myth, by monarchs urged with zeal 

To thwart the hopes for equal rights that feed 

On fruits of Liberty and Learning's mingled seed. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 15 



VIII 

More threatening than the absolute control 
A czar once wielded is the power that craves 

Allegiance to a fancied super-soul, — 
Benevolent autocracy, — that paves 
A pensioned pathway for contented slaves 

Whose sacrifice of individual rights 

To guardians, from their cradles to their graves, 

Indulges worldly wants and appetites. 

But dulls the flame of life which Freedom's torch 
ignites. 

IX 

Nowhere evince the tillers of the soil 

More taste or fitness for enlightenment. 
Nowhere are clasped the grimy hands of toil 

For labor's liberation more intent 

Or purposeful than on this continent, 

Where in its culminating strength and scope 

Manhattan offers proof most eloquent 

That men and principles may safely cope 

With problems each evolve, — Democracy's proud 

hope. 



16 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



X 

But looking backward in reflective mood 

Across the centuries that intervene 
Since Peter Minuit, the trader, stood 

With Indians near the site of Bowling Green 

Negotiating with complacent mien 
A four-and-twenty dollar rum outlay 

For title to Manhattan's sylvan scene; 
How changed the times and customs since that day 
Or since the stern and sturdy Stuyvesant held 
sway! 



XI 

To understand Manhattan and to catch 

The deeper meaning of the force that nerved 
Successive generations to outmatch 

Foregoing efforts, — as with wings uncurved 
For poise or perchment. Progress soars un- 
swerved 
To altitudes of grandeur unconfined, 

From various vantage-points should be ob- 
served 
The crowning civic conquests of mankind 
That flash their natural pulsing films upon the 
mind. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 17 



XII 

Viewed from the harbor on a summer's day 
By travelers aboard incoming ships, 

The scene evokes emotions into play, 
Starts admiration leaping to the lips 
And pleasure tingling to the finger-tips; 

Oh ! how the native bosom swells with pride, 
No seaport spectacle can this eclipse. 

Nerve-center of a nation at flood-tide 

With Liberty's enlightening torch aloft to guide. 

XIII 

Seen from the summit of the tallest tower. 
Almost a thousand feet above the street, 

The great metropolis reveals its power 
In magnitude and majesty complete, 
And distant objects seem beneath the feet; 

Vision extends for forty miles around. 
Scan the horizon's circle, what a treat? 

Look inland classic Princeton is found, 

Eastward, thro' ocean mists speed steamers home- 
ward bound. 



18 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XIV 

Off Sandy Hook the Atlantic's crest of blue 

Dim-outlined dwindles to a shore-line gray, 
Dwarfed in the focus of a bird's eye view, 

The Narrows, Ambrose Channel and the bay, 

Unfold a mighty maritime array. 
Where flags of every nation flout the gale, 

Big bristling battleships at anchor lay. 
While fleets of ferryboats jammed to the rail 
Flit to and fro 'mid countless craft that steam or 
sail. 



XV 

There stands upon the harbor-front seawall 

An ancient fort that bears the Aquarium's name, 

Perhaps the most historic spot of all 

The noted many that this isle can claim. 
As Castle Garden it acquired its fame. 

For dating back to eighteen-fifty-five 

Eight million aliens through its portals came 

To labor, learn to assimilate and strive 

To help this great Republic prosper and survive. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 19 



XVI 

These migrant millions lured from various climes 
And meeting, mingling, intermarrying here, 

Left deep and forceful impress on the times 
Since then till now, and many a future year 
Their progeny as leaders will appear 

To lift Advancement's banner for this realm, 
Equipped to serve in any rank or sphere; 

No tempest shall the ship of state o'erwhelm 

When pilots, sons of pioneers, are at the helm. 

XVII 

Old former Castle Garden! landmark set 

With memories that a century invest; 
Here on his farewell visit Lafayette 

Was welcomed as the nation's honored guest; 

Here landed Edward, Prince of Wales, in quest 
Of youth's diversions; here Inventor Morse 

Scored triumph in his telegraphic test; 
Here Barnum's fame as showman had its source. 
And hither Kossuth steered from Hungary his 
course. 



20 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XVIII 

Thronging the island's center, north and south, 
Throughout Manhattan's length of thirteen 
miles, 
From Battery Park which flanks the Hudson's 
mouth 
To where the broad Van Courtlandt meadow 

smiles, 
Runs Broadway, famed for spenders, shows 
and styles, 
Magnetic and mirage-like, masking care. 

While underneath the glamour, froth and wiles, 
Flow channelled depths that human currents wear 
Which vitalize the world's most vaunted thorough- 
fare. 

XIX 

The modern network of Industrialism 
Evolves a mode of living keen and tense. 

Keyed by a highly-complex mechanism 
That interlocks for Capital's defence. 
Curtailing incomes, adding to expense 

Of toiling masses who for living wage 

Serve sinews to famed fortunes so immense, 

Their philanthropic owners must engage 

Endowment experts to divert them in old age. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 21 



XX 

There's something nobler, infinitely higher, 

In passing through the solemn vale of life 
Than mere unchecked ambition to acquire 

Pelf with its paltry pastime, sordid strife ; 

Where greed for gold is rampant, graft is rife; 
Better an honest heart, a cultured taste, 

A love of home, of offspring and of wife, 
With income that inhibits want or waste 
Than all the wiles on which plutocracy is based. 

XXI 

The people's peerless playground, Central Park, 

Whose charms appeal to every age and class, 
Has not escaped the grim despoiler's mark; 

The Arsenal is closed, and gone, alas! 

The sportsman's tavern at McGowan's Pass, 
The Belvedere obtrudes its ruined heap. 

The old stone fort is overgrown with grass; 
But fading landmarks frowning in dull sleep 
O'er livelier landscape scenes forwarning vigils 
keep. 



22 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XXII 

From teeming Eastside tenements that group 
Their human herds like cattle in a stall, 

On holidays pic-nicking parents troop 
With romping children to the water-fall 
Or harken to the music on the Mall, 

Eluding for the nonce their chief concern, — 
The economic fetters that enthrall, — 

To draw direct from nature's healthful urn 

The balm of rural life for which their spirits 
yearn. 

XXIII 

Midway in Central Park where echoes sound 
Faint murmurs of the turmoil life demands 

For sustenance, erected on a mound 

With cryptic message carved by ancient hands. 
An obelisk that rose above the sands 

Of Egypt ere the Christian era's start 
Was chronicled, in lordliness now stands 

Like some mysterious sentinel apart 

Behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 23 



XXIV 

Stern symbol of endurance ! Mystics preach 
In vain thy sermon but cannot obscure 

Thy purpose, for thy presence serves to teach 
That Art, like Time, is destined to endure : 
Ere Culture's dawn thou wert Art's overture 

And all the aesthetic harmonies combined 
That stately sumptuous sanctuaries insure 

With treasured trophies of each master-mind 

Are Civilization's grandest gifts to all mankind. 

XXV 

What is the secret of the power that gives 

A faculty to fame that fascinates 
In cherished classic which through ages lives? 

'Tis toil that tills the talent that creates 

While sloth in vain on inspiration waits, 
And Genius, so distinctive and oft fraught 

With tastes aesthetic and eccentric traits, — 
So loathed by mediocrity, — is naught 
But mental vision's range expanded by trained 
thought. 



24 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XXVI 

The ancient Greeks who gave to law a status 

And lauded justice in their classic odes 
Revered a fabled hero, Fortunatus, 

Whose smiles were more engaging than the 
codes 

That Solon taught in forum-famed abodes: 
But in Manhattan luck's an unchased bubble, 

And law seems distant as the antipodes 
From honor, while the art of dealing-double 
Is substituted for success in masking trouble. 



XXVII 

There are some natures crude, conceited, coarse. 
With instincts of the wolf and fox endowed, 

That elbow and hobnail their way by force 
To places in the forefront of the crowd. 
Preempting posts beyond their fitness, proud 

To meet all public protests with a sneer 

Or hold the mob in mood resentful cowed; 

Thus roved and ruled the old-time buccaneer 

Whose modern chrysalis yields a gouging profiteer. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 25 



XXVIII 

Symptoms of blight, — the problem paramount, — 
Defenders of Democracy must face. 

Lurk in the heedless tendency to count 

Position, power, preferment, public place, 
Attained by standards false and methods base. 

As laudable : Why is this noxious scourge. 

Which goads the conscience of the human race, 

Licensed to flout all moral codes and urge 

What Justice, blinded, gropes in vain to probe and 
purge ? 

XXIX 

Unless the civic conscience be aroused 

To worthier impulse than material gain. 
The cause our patriot forefathers espoused 

For freedom and equality will wane; 

As long as special privilege is the bane 
Of social justice, laws will lure mischance. 

While honest worth with intrigue vies in vain; 
Not Force, but Faith in ideals, must advance 
To breast the bulwarks reared by brigands of 
finance. 



26 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XXX 

Motoring In modish juggernaut array, 

The gilded god of chance through Wall street 
drives 
To haunts where hordes of human birds of prey 
Revel in riches reaped on ruined lives; 
In money's maddening maelstrom Conscience 
strives 
To merge what moral precepts have instilled, 

But Verity, not Vanity, survives, 
And soon would earth with famine's phantoms 

filled 
To primal types revert unless the soil be tilled. 

XXXI 

For in the elemental warp that yields 
Forces that forge the militant right arm 

And moral fibre Civilization wields 

To compass life with cheerfulness and charm, 
The font and firm foundation is the farm; 

Ancient and stable as the human race 

Is Agriculture, and though myriads swarm 

Manhattan's marts in Mammon's ceaseless chase 

Their providence is meted by the ploughman's 
pace. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 27 



XXXII 

Out of stupendous strife there often dawns 

This sober thought which chastened mood pre- 
sents : 
Mortals, however masterful, are pawns 

Upon the changing chessboard of events; 

The courtly sculptor. Vanity, cements 
Heroic names upon the scroll of Time, 

But Fame is seldom cradled by intents, 
And often those discouraged in their prime 
Have soared through opportune events to heights 
sublime. 

XXXIII 

Goddess that guards the temple reared to sports 

With bow and arrow ready for the chase. 
Dashing Diana, naked-limbed, cavorts 

Atop a tower of architectural grace; 

Old Madison Square Garden is the place 
To witness games, Olympic-like, that still 

Attract all classes of the populace 
Who mingle and acclaim with shouts that thrill 
Triumphant victors in the feats of strength and 
skill. 



28 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XXXIV 

Where styles of modern architecture share 

With quaint colonial types the passing view 
Keen is the human instinct to compare 

Details of difference in the old and new; 

The Jumel Mansion, foremost of the few 
Preserved ancestrial homesteads, still abounds 

In interest as the patriots' rendezvous, 
While 'neath its rocky perch tumultuous sounds 
Oft echo from the stadium of the Polo Grounds. 



XXXV 

Within the shadow cast by Coogan's bluff 

The captivating contest of baseball 
Elicits roars in volume vast enough 

The muttering of Niagara to recall 

On rainless afternoons from Spring till Fall, 
When hosts hilarious gather to exhort 

The keenest, cleanest pastime of them all. 
As rival teams to strategy resort 
In matching speed and skill, — the Spartan test of 
sport. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 29 



XXXVI 

Presumptuous youth would fain adventure far 
Through ultra-urban life without a hitch, 

But like the unskilled pilot of a car, 

The simple thoughtless turning of a switch 
May shift him from the highway to the ditch; 

Conceit has cankered many a proud career 
That might have earned admission to a niche 

In halls of fame, if temperament's high-gear 

Had been inured from early youth to wisdom's 
steer. 

XXXVII 

Turf, set apart by nature's grace to yield 
Relief or respite from dull routine cares, 

May once have been a public Potter's Field, 
Like Bryant Park whose origin compares 
With those of Madison or Union squares; 

Each in its turn received the pauper dead, 

Each groomed its lawns, its shade-trees and 
parterres 

O'er humblest graves as progress northward 
spread. 

And now they harbor human helplessness instead. 



30 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XXXVIII 

Ye who, misled by demagogue's design 

Or fired by proletarian's frenzied plea, 
Have faith in cults that seek to undermine 

The spirit that upholds democracy ; 

Ye who regard republics as the free 
Exploiting grounds for foreigners to plant 

Seditious seed; ye who claim liberty 
Neglects her heroes cast in adamant. 

That noble deeds inspire, approach the Tomb 
of Grant. 

XXXIX 

High o'er the Hudson where the steep incline 
Of parked embankment fronts a terraced drive, 

Stroll leisurely like pilgrim to his shrine 
And feel the patriotic pulse revive, — 
The embered zeal of manhood flame alive, — 

As through embowering vistas the first peep 
Of that huge semblance of a granite hive 

Delights the eye with its impressive heap 

Where rests the warrior with his spouse in hal- 
lowed sleep. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 31 



XL 

Protagonist of military might! 

Whose statue with the flight of time expands, 
Firm as the rock and lofty as the site 

Whereon thy mammoth mausoleum stands; 

The Union cause triumphant in thy hands 
Immortalized thee, but that mute appeal. 

Voiced from the tomb, e'en greater praise com- 
mands. 
For those calm words **Let us Have Peace" reveal 
Thy power to smite was tempered with the hope to 
heal. 



XLI 

Observe the gorge-like prospect from this tomb 

The Hudson shapes till dim perspective fades 
To northward where the shores of Jersey loom 

With uniform abruptness which pervades 

The panorama of the Palisades, 
Grouping in picturesque and pristine grace 

Across from sylvan Inwood's sloping glades 
In uppermost Manhattan, every trace 
Of rugged nature's charm which man should not 
deface. 



32 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XLII 

How trim the water-tower peaked on a ridge 
The eastern Heights of Washington disclose ! 

And 'neath the granite arches of High Bridge 
How placidly the Harlem river flows 
'Mid scenes of semi-pastoral repose! 

Across the stream the Bronx, suburban tame, 
Despite the inroads trade's aggression sows, 

Exalts from classic heights life's lofty aim 

In dome and colonnade that mark the Hall of 
Fame. 



XLIII 

Is Freedom's dawn forgotten? Look around 

In quest of civic tendency or aim, 
Objects and scenes on every side abound 

That bear the Father of our country's name. 

Communal tributes to enduring fame. 
More potent than the pomp the proud affect. 

True worth unfurls no tinselled oriflame; 
For chivalry of character can elect 
To vest the commonplace with title to respect. 



THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 33 



XLIV 

How oft the noble name of Washington 
Pervades Manhattan's unromantic air! 

An arch with sage monition carved thereon, 
Facing an entrance to a public square, 
A statue in the heart of Wall street's lair, 

A mart, a fort, a bridge, a rocky height. 
An ancient and a modern thoroughfare, 

Are notable memorials to the might 

Of him who shaped and launched our ship of state 
aright. 

XLV 

Go, guard the gates of government and guide 
The drifting herds from Europe off the shoal 

Where breaks the surging socialistic tide 

Which frets and froths to leap beyond control i 
No fatuous foreign beacon lights the goal 

Or charts the course democracy declares, 

And, lest the watchful wraith of serfdom's soul 

Through rifts unwardened creep in unawares, 

Uproot ecclesiasticism from state affairs. 



34 THE MIGHT OF MANHATTAN 



XLVI 

Speed on, Manhattan, while the virile lust 
And vibrant lure of youth sustain thy force ! 

The dregs of empires filtered through the dust 
Of ages long elapsed, still meet and course 
Through thy brisk veins incognizant of source: 

Rejuvenate the remnants merged in one 

And fused at Freedom^s forge beyond divorce. 

As Babel's leaven moulded Babylon, 

Mint thou thy might from every race beneath 
the sun. 



THE CALL OF THE COUNTRY 35 



THE CALL OF THE COUNTRY 

'T^HERE are times when a sense of satiety palls 
-■' And the glamour of city life no longer 

thralls, 
Then the spirit of man seeks the woodlands and 

fields 
For the comforting calm that the countryside 
yields. 

For the woes that depress and the wrongs that 

aggrieve 
The freedom of forest and farm can relieve, 
And the Ills of illusion, engendered by care, 
Dissolve like the mists In the fresh mountain air. 

The slave to convention whose passion for wealth 
Is rewarded by premature age and ill-health 
Finds something akin to revival of youth 
In rustic environment, however uncouth. 

A springtide aroma of fresh-furrowed turf, 
A mid-summer breath of the rough-rolling surf, 
A landscape which autumn in pigments portrays, — 
These are worth all the joys of a dozen Broad- 
ways. 



36 THE CALL OF THE COUNTRY 



The lonesomest lives may be compassed by mirth 
In the busiest streets that enliven the earth, 
Where the heart of the city's cross-currents com- 
pound 
With a bedlam of bustle and babel of sound. 

Afloat for a lifetime are mortals that sweep 
O'er the boundless expanse of the billowy deep, 
While dotting earth's wild wastes with cottage or 

camp 
Are primitive souls of the pioneer stamp. 

Like the old Texas rancher who gruffly avowed 
He would rather move off than be cramped by a 

crowd 
And who felt that his range was too narrow to 

roam 
When settlers located ten miles from his home. 



KATY EAST AND KATY WEST 37 



KATY EAST AND KATY WEST 

I 

^T^IME has wrought so many changes 

In the life I used to know 
When I rode the cattle ranges 

Down in Texas years ago 
That there scarce remains a semblance 

Of the type of folks I knew, 
Only just a faint remembrance 

Of a fond and faithful few, — 
One of whom a grim old fellow 

That no josh or joke could vex. 
Whose complexion coppered mellow 

Showed his origin, Tex-Mex, 
Seldom spoke above a mutter, 

Till by dint of duty pressed, 
He would lift his tongue and utter: 

'*Katy East and Katy West." 



38 KATY EAST AND KATY WEST 



II 

It so happened down In Waco, 

Which the Katy road runs through, 
That a lone paved street would echo 

With a merry motley crew 
Of quaint cattlemen and tourists, 

Bound for points along the line, — 
Even constables and jurists 

Seldom missed a treat so fine, — 
When two roaring trains would smother 

Every voice with deafening power 
As they paused to pass each other 

Round about the noon-day hour; 
It was just before their coming 

That our hero yelled with zest 
In a tone that set hearts humming: 

''Katy East and Katy West." 

Ill 

Though his nose was hooked like Caesar's, 
He had not the Romanes brains, 

For his youth was spent with greasers 
Herding cattle on the plains. 

Still he tossed a skillful lasso, 
As he drifted back and forth 



KATY EAST AND KATY WEST 39 



With cow-punchers from El Paso 

And the stockyards at Fort Worth, 
Till with age his speed was slacking, 

Then without much fret or fuss, 
He just settled down to hacking 

With two ponies and a bus 
As a mode of transportation. 

But the part he played the best 
Was to shout this information: 

*'Katy East and Katy West/' 

IV 

Most of Waco's nabobs nobby 

Were the gamblers that would stroll 
Proud as peacocks through the lobby 

Of the Hotel Metropole; 
Rough and raw-boned ranchers mingled, 

Always keen to take a chance. 
While their bell-spurs clinked and jingled 

Mimic echoes of the dance; 
But the bar-room's roar and rattle 

Caught the cowboy's fancy first, 
Romping, milling like their cattle 

In attempts to slack their thirst; 
Yet a sudden lull oft sundered 

All the mirth that effervesced 



40 KATY EAST AND KATY WEST 



When the old bus-driver thundered: 
"Katy East and Katy West." 



Oft I marked his noon-day entry, 

From the hotel dining-room, 
Saw him stalk in like a sentry. 

Bold enough to challenge doom. 
With his broad sombrero flopping 

From a tether held in check 
And a loose bandana dropping 

In a loop around his neck; 
Girt and geared with all the trappings 

Of a prairie pioneer. 
Whip in hand with thonged enwrappings, 

Straight ahead his course would steer, 
Pound the floor with ponderous brogan. 

Hustling every dining guest, 
With his timely, trusty slogan: 

"Katy East and Katy West." 

VI 

From amongst the fearless figures 
That I loped with on the ranch. 

Some were quick at cards and triggers, 
Nearly all were straight and stanch. 



IN METARIE CEMETERY 41 



But the firmest fixed survivor 

That In retrospect remains 
Is that old Waco bus-driver 

And the way he called the trains; 
For a moral we can summon 

From his long-remembered yell 
Is that things which seem uncommon 

Oft are common things done well; 
And this thought like music beating 

On the heart-strings in my breast 
Keeps my memory still repeating: 

"Katy East and Katy West." 

IN METARIE CEMETERY 

THERE Is In New Orleans a cemetery 
That seems the handiwork of nymph or 
fairy, 
Named Metarle, which old chronicles report 
Was once a race-course where unbridled sport 
Held carnival until, piqued by a snub 
That barred his entry to the jockey club, 
A local wag, for wealth and wit renowned, 
Transformed the track Into a burylng-ground; 
And with a sportsman's sense of pride and pity 
Bequeathed his curious conquest to the city. 



42 IN METARIE CEMETERY 



This act so pleased the public that the donor 
Was feted, toasted and acclaimed with honor 
By press and pulpit as the people's friend, 
Because he had the courage to defend 
The principle of equal human rights, — 
That law of natural instinct which unites 
Men in true fellowhood, — for he had turned 
Into grim jest the boast of foes that spurned 
His comradeship, till death invoked surrender; 
Then Metarie grouped within her bosom tender 
Both friend and foe around her old defender. 
Whose tomb surpasseth all in marbled splendor. 



APPROACHING HONOLULU 43 



APPROACHING HONOLULU 

I 

SERENITY sails On a tropical trip, 
Lazily lolling aboard a snug ship, 
Which ploughs the Pacific's immutable breast, 
Six days out of Golden Gate heading southwest, 
When a shout stirs the crew, brisk officers pass, 
A lookout is posted aloft with a glass, 
Keen eyes peer ahead with expectant delight, 
For the isles of Hawaii will soon be in sight. 

II 

No land has been seen since a group of gray stones 
Just outside the headlands, — the bleached Farra- 

lones, — 
Like a stray shoal of sea-wolves inclined to pursue, 
In the dusk of an evening receded from view, 
And almost a week has elapsed, still the calm 
Of the ambient elements basks in their balm, 
While only the depths of the ocean and sky 
Envisage their vastness to soul and to eye. 

Ill 

The encircling scope and the murmuring sound 
Of the sea evoke thoughts and emotions profound 
In minds that can rise o'er the sordid and base 
To ponder life's purport in nature's embrace; 



44 APPROACHING HONOLULU 



Yet oft through such musings a magic-like hand, 
Repeating its kerchiefed farewell from the land, 
Creeps in, with a lingering longing once more 
To set a firm foot on a welcoming shore. 

IV 

There's a zest in the shift from reflections sedate 
To the tremor which hope's expectations create, 
When all that is sober and solemn and deep 
Veer to smiles as in dreams of a child fast asleep; 
There's a thrill in the long watchful wait to divert 
The tedium and tension of being alert, 
And just as the quest seems enshrouded in doubt, 
"Land ahead! off the starboard bow," shouts the 
lookout. 



Far out where the blue of the sky seems to sleep 
On the crest of the mingling blue of the deep, 
The sunny bright isles in the distant waves gleam 
Like fragments of fancy pervading a dream: 
Thus oft on the variable voyage through life 
With its alternate aspects of sunshine and strife. 
The goals that persistence and patience pursue 
Like the isles of Hawaii at last loom in view. 



WAR'S HARVEST 45 



WAR'S HARVEST 

I 

To HASTEN the ultimate uplift of man, — 
This was the heralded purpose and plan 
When war of the Nations In Europe began, 

But now that the conflict Is ended, 
Have all the lessons the grim struggle taught 
Lifted a burden from millions who fought. 
Brightened a hope for the ideals they sought, 
Or have more been shattered than mended? 

II 

What if a warlord whose swaggering style 
Once bluffed the world with a frown or a smile 
Now tames his pulse chopping wood in exile ! 

What of a Czar's immolation ! 
Are not the countries these proud monarchs ruled 
Drifting to chaos; by Bolshevists schooled, 
Are not the peoples long forced, fleeced and fooled, 

Now on the verge of starvation? 

Ill 

Here in a plenteous prosperous land 
Prices are raised by a profiteer band, 



46 WAR'S HARVEST 



Not by the law of supply and demand, 

Plain patient folks are disgusted; 
Still on a mistaken course we proceed, 
Glutting the maws of insatiable greed, 
Someday the victims will rise and stampede, 

Then will the Trust-bunds be busted. 

IV 

Wherever we go they are passing the hat 
With a drive for this and a drive for that. 
As legions of loiterers loaf and grow fat, — 

Their insolence fairly staggers; 
Unless the contagion of this gnawing fault 
Is checked by the law Interposing a halt 
Which forces these leeches to earn their own salt, 

We'll soon be a nation of beggars. 

V 

The orgy of organized greed that Incites 
An age economic to curb human rights. 
Which Labor contends for and Capital fights, 

The world war but slightly affected; 
With wealth glossing evils it never can cure. 
With the rich growing richer and poorer the poor. 
How long can the might of a nation endure? 

How long will its laws be respected? 



MOB 47 



MOB 

o mightier despot ever trod 
The earth or ruled with sterner rod 
Or swayed huge hosts with subtler nod 
Or rode through ruin rougher shod 
Than I, — part beast, part demi-god. 



N 



Horrors that make humanity tremble 
Stalk in my wake when I assemble 
The Imps of discord and unrest 
Which lurk In every outraged breast, 
And seem to mock like haunting ghouls 
The grief and gloom of shackled souls, 
Or sportive turn the cog which grinds 
Envenomed thoughts in envious minds, 
Or gleeful dance with fiendish zest 
On hearts by want and woe oppressed, 
Or ruthless rack the nerves with dread 
When eyes are filmed a murderous red 
From ills that through gaunt bodies spread, 
Long overworked and underfed. 



48 MOB 



Terror and Thrill, Tremor and Throb 
March in my van with Shudder and Sob, 
Mine is a tragic Titan's job, 
I am the turbulent Tyrant Mob. 

My coming serves to set in motion 
A frenzied ferment of devotion 
To every cause and cult and notion 
Designed by knave or demagogue 
To steep the public mind in fog 
And mire all Christendom a-bog. 
Discarding e'en the decalogue: 
It is indeed unfortunate 
Impostors so importunate, 
Who lack the power and skill to make 
The fortunes others have at stake. 
Preach violence for vengeance sake, 
Can fortify their tongues and nerves 
By poaching on my wild preserves. 
Can coyly courtesan with fame 
By spurious trading on my name. 

Unlike my servile offspring. Mars, 

I am not throned amid the stars, 

I am not ranked with brave hussars, 

Nor pensioned for my wounds and scars; 



MOB 49 



Nor Is my form in glory clothed, 

My fate by no allegiance oathed, 

I am a demon feared and loathed 

By all, — an outcast behemothed: 

Yet for the good of all I rise; 

The foremost attributes I prize 

Are patience born of sacrifice 

And justice shrieking to the skies 

For what oppression oft denies 

In human rights and sympathies; 

For these my reign, though sharp and brief. 

Extends a rainbow of relief 

Across a horror-riven reef 

Where breaks an avalanche of grief, 

A cataclysm of emotion 

Which sweeps mankind like storm-tossed ocean. 

Ye, who are wont to wreck and rob, 
Snugged in the role of sleek nabob, 
Who snare and swindle honest folk. 
Who jeer at justice as a joke, 
Who gloat to see your victims broke 
Beneath the dull industrial yoke, 
While orphans wail and widows sob. 
Beware the righteous wrath of Mob. 



50 TRUE EXPRESSION 



TRUE EXPRESSION 

ly^NOW YE that true expression lies 

•■■^ Less in the tongue than in the eyes, 

For eloquent as may appear 

The fluent lip, a smile or tear 

Can quicken joy, can banish fear 

Or make the pulse with pleasure start 

Or soothe with sympathy the heart, 

Eclipsing Oratory's art; 

For Gladness melts what Grief absorbs 

Beneath the glance of smiling orbs. 

These mute interpreters of Love 
Reflect what lips can seldom breathe. 

As stars that faintly beam above 
Are glistened in the wave beneath. 



BY THE GRAVE OF POE 51 



BY THE GRAVE OF POE 

BESIDE Westminster's stately towers,* 
Where reverent footsteps softly tread, 
A churchyard lies, uncheered by flowers, 
But honored by th' Immortal dead. 

I visited that hallowed spot 

In autumn many years ago. 
The scene will never be forgot. 

Whose gloom was like impending woe. 

'Twas midnight and in varying tones 
The belfries tolled the dismal hour, 

I glanced upon sepulchral stones 

And seemed to feel enchantment's power. 

A splendid marble shaft arose 

Above a corner of the lot 
Thro shrubbery which lent repose 

To elegance that deckt the spot. 

*Poe is bnried in Westminster churchyard in the heart of the city of 
Baltimore, Md. 



52 BY THE GRAVE OF POE 



I knelt before the sepulchre 

Which hides th' immortal poet's dust 
And like a pilgrim-worshiper 

Paid tribute to his classic bust. 

No echoing sounds the stillness broke 
Save from above the sculptured door 

Methought I heard the Raven croak 
His solitary "Nevermore." 

The gathering gloom gripped like a trance, 
And when I passed the iron gate 

I paused but dared not backward glance 
As if pursued by fear or fate. 



THE DREAM-SIREN 53 



THE DREAM-SIREN 

IN DREAMS of yesternight I stood 
Upon the ocean's darkHng shore 
While all around was solitude 

Save for the waves' inconstant roar. 

Before me rose a maiden sad 

With sapphire eyes, half-sheathed in sleep, 
A white transparent texture clad 

This Amphitrite of the deep. 

She spake in stately solemn tone: 

''Mine is the power that conquers want; 

Speak quickly ere the night is flown, 
Whate'er you wish for I shall grant." 

One moment mute enrapt I gazed 

Upon her half-averted face. 
As wild caressing billows praised 

Her statuesque and nymphal grace. 



54 THE DREAM-SIREN 



Her long loose-flowing tresses flung 
Their golden festoons to the storm, 

When harkening to my suppliant tongue 
That gently roused her slumbrous form. 

**I would my heart were like the wave 
That bounds exulting o'er the sea, 
And when the scowling tempests rave 
I still could frolic gay and free. 

"I would my mind were like the lake 
That mirrors peace at eventide, 

Unrufiled by the winds that shake 
The rustling woodland by its side. 



"I would my soul were like the vault 
Of boundless heaven's ethereal blue. 

Untarnished by a clouded fault 
And to its Source unswerving true. 

"I would my love were like the rose 
That blooms in unfrequented fields. 

Where only the wooing zephyr knows 
The favorite fragrance that it yields. 



THE DREAM-SIREN 55 



"I would the wealth of all the earth 
Were cast returnless to the wind, 

And the nobler standard of true worth 
Were culture of the heart and mind. 

*'Yea ! dearer to me than tempting wealth 
Than grandeur's pomp or pleasure's lure 

Is long-robust, unfailing health, 

A faithful heart, a conscience pure." 

I paused. The mermaid's lifted arms. 
Commanding while they captivate, 

Though still revealing myriad charms. 
Were now impotent, — 'twas too late. 

Her shadowy form began to fade. 
Her lips seemed motioning to reply; 

Methought I heard the sounds they made. 
But 'twas the ocean's surging sigh. 

A startled wakening from my sleep 
Dissolved the phantom, slumber-born. 

While through my window came the peep 
Of twilight ushering in the morn. 



56 THE MUSE IN MISFORTUNE 



THE MUSE IN MISFORTUNE 

How strange ! the humblest peasant thrives, 
While languish gifted men of song, 
And seldom calm, Arcadian lives 
Are lotted to the minstrel throng. 

Betimes, perchance, oppressed by want. 
Their harps have sounded half-unstrung; 

Rebuke not ! think how they might chant 
If fortune favored what was sung. 

Their lots should not, howe'er they live. 
Provoke a prudish look or laugh; 

Their hearts when song-enburdened give 
What other hearts will phonograph. 

Unqualified for deeds that bring 
Success within commercial marts. 

But deeply versed in arts that spring 
From gifts of mind and depths of heart. 

Their words recording saints rehearse. 
Their praise a cherub-choir intones. 

Their fame survives adorning verse 
Incised upon memorial stones. 



THE REGULAR SOLDIER 57 



THE REGULAR SOLDIER 

(These verses were written at Manila, P. I., in August, 1898, 
a few days after the city was captured from the Spanish 
by the American forces, at which time the writer was a 
member of the Fourteenth U. S. Infantry.) 

I 

A nation's heart beats high and fast, 
As legions leap to arms, 
Responsive to the bugle blast 

That thrills with war's alarms; 
From Huron's shores to Rio's banks 

Advance the volunteers. 
But foremost in the forming ranks 

Mute regular appears: 
One moment's lull, one quick command. 
He dashes from his native land, 
On fields of conflict, near or far. 
Behold the ready regular. 

II 

Thro swamp or brushwood, stones or stub, 

He marches day or night, 
Half-rations of the roughest grub 

To tease his appetite: 
'Most any time he may be killed 

In some outposting fray, 
He ne'er complains, — he's duty-drilled, 

And knows how to obey: 



58 THE REGULAR SOLDIER 



Of exploits on the field or post 
He never cares to prate or boast, 
His tales are told by many a scar, 
This stern and silent regular. 

Ill 

A blanket's folded in his pack, 

A change of clothes between, 
A biscuit's in his haversack, 

A swig's in his canteen. 
His campaign hat Is tattered, 

His leggings loose and frayed 
His uniform, mud-spattered 

From the trenches where he stayed 
All night before Manila's walls 
'Mid showers of shells and Mauser balls 
A lesson in the brunt of war 
Learn from the rugged regular. 

IV 

Fitted for any realm to range, 

His hardened spirit mettle 
No circumstance of clime can change. 

No rigors can unsettle : 
With manners blunt and features burnt 

By usage rude and hard. 



THE REGULAR SOLDIER 59 



The manly pliant traits he's learnt 

Are discipline's reward: 
His aim the mark has seldom missed, 
He's just as handy with his fist, 
For he can wrestle, fence or spar. 
This agile earnest regular. 

V 

How senseless to contemn and lance 

With taunts he can't resent. 
Because in days of peace, perchance, 

His hours are idly spent; 
Remember, arms ennoble men 

To cast the warrior's stamp. 
Whose guardian is obedience, when 

In garrison or camp : 
Blame not his awkward pen or speech, 
He's skilled in what the tactics teach, 
No blunders his maneuvers mar, 
This manual-modeled regular. 

VI 

Behold him, private in the ranks. 

On days of dress-parade. 
Whether in center or on flanks 

Each order is obeyed 



60 THE LOWEST RANK 



In faultless unison as when 

The coursing spheres began; 
How grand to see a thousand men 

Move like a single man! 
There's steady cadence in his pace 
And serious silence in his face, 
His polished arms glint like a star, 
This trained and trusty regular. 

THE LOWEST RANK 

THE LOWEST rank known in the regular army, 
Which troopers award to an ease-seeking 
flunky, 
In lingo whose marksmanship always could charm 
me. 
Is "Dog robber to a lance-corporal's bunkie." 

A recruit in the ranks of the faithful though 
humble. 
The bunkie's much more than a snoring side- 
sleeper; 
He's a pal who can relish camp gossip and 
grumble, 
Yet muster himself without counsel or keeper. 

A grade below sergeant and just above private 
The corporal struts with an air self-concerned. 



FLEETING THOUGHT 61 



While the ''lance" is in prospect and will not ar- 
rive at 
His full-chevroned bloom till a warrant is 
earned. 

The dodging dog-robber, so adept to pander, 
Who thus escapes discipline's rigid pursuits, 

Is menial-in-chief to the company commander. 
For whom he runs errands and shines up his 
boots. 

In battle's baptism, where even the nervous 

Are spurred by revenge to be steadfast and 
spunky, 
Away in the rear still nursing soft service. 

Loafs "Dog robber to a lance-corporal's 
bunkie." 

FLEETING THOUGHT 

I GRASPED my pen to write a thought 
But, like a flash, it fled; 
A search through memory but brought 

Distraction on my head: 
'Tis thus with hopes so ardent sought, 

At length before us spread. 
We grasp — and lo ! behold, we've caught 
Adversity instead. 



62 VERNAL MORN AND EVE 



VERNAL MORN AND EVE 

Behold! with sudden burst the blush 
Of morn upon the Orient skies, 
While soon from out th' adjoining bush 

Arise euphonious melodies; 
A whisper bids the spirit ''Hush" 

And harken to the feathered choir, 
For rival linnet and the thrush 

In mingled harmony conspire, 
Wild-warbling as they flit among 

The fragrant hawthorn bowers, 
And neighboring daisies, lately sprung, 

Are bathed in dewy showers: 
How sweet the early morning hours 

When Phoebus lifts his dazzling eye 
And all the cheer of birds and flowers 

Awaken more than ecstasy! 

But when the ever-varying dyes 

Of orange, saffron, purple, red 
Tinsel the clouds of evening's skies, 

As Phoebus goes to bed; 
'Tis then arising pale and clear 

Above the depths of azured East, 
Fair Cynthia with her stars appear 

Like Hebe at the feast. 



VALENTINE'S DAY 63 



VALENTINE'S DAY 

TO-DAY is Cupid's busy day, 
His missive-bearing darts 
Speed pretty tokens far away 
To gladden loving hearts. 

And, sweetheart, though this gift of mine 
May greet thee with surprise, 

Methinks no dainty Valentine 
So welcome to thine eyes. 

The image of myself I send 

In fond exchange for thine, 
Long be this tribute of a friend 

A treasured Valentine. 

Perhaps it will in after years 

Some happy hours beguile, 
And should deep sorrow threaten tears 

Perhaps 'twill win a smile. 

Though hope may fade and love depart 

By cruel fate's design, 
Still keep my image in thy heart, 

For there I'll cherish thine. 



64 TO A YOUNG LADY 



LINES TO A YOUNG LADY 

(In answer to the complaint of a rival suitor who found fault 
with her favorite lover because he had unconsciously 
worn a hole in the seat of his trousers.) 

YOUR pretty face may wear a smile 
When next your sly inspecting glance 
Averts its love-looks for a while 
To search the seat of my old pants. 

For my landlady, gentle soul, 

With modest eyes and blushing face, 

Has patched the unadorning hole 

That peeped from such an awkward place. 

I care not for the prim attire 

Of which the gilded coxcomb brags, 

Most men of greatness we admire 

Were sometimes robed in pauper rags. 

Then think not I am less a man 

Because my clothes should wear or soil; 

That fray which some were loth to scan 
Was wrought by arduous honest toil. 

A tattered cover oft encloses 

The priceless contents of a volume, 

While verdant ivies and sweet roses 
Conceal the crumbling antique column. 



IN LIFE'S AUTUMN 65 



T 



IN LIFE'S AUTUMN 

HE RICH rosy fruit ripening luscious and 

mellow, 
Which stirred by the breezes half-hiddenly 

swing 
Through the foliage brown crimson-tinted and 

yellow, 
Were once the sweet blossoms that bloomed in 

the Spring. 

'Tis the Autumn of life which reveals in our faces 
Whether sorrow or joy has implanted the most, 

Then sadly we peer in the mirror for traces ^ 
Of beauties which youth could so blushingly 
boast. 

LONELINESS 

DOWN Edgecombe road this early morn 
As leisurely I chanced to walk, 
I spy a rose without a thorn. 

Full-blown upon a leafless stalk; 
All solitary it grows — , 

No infant buds its splendors share, 
No envious friends or rival foes, 
Alone it scents the morning air. 



66 THE LIBERTINE'S LAMENT 



Its every petal drips of dew, 

Like tear-drops set in Beauty's eyes, 
Harmonious to its richer hues 

Of deep and dark vermillion dyes. 
Like some fair love-lorn maid who seeks 

A heart responsive to her own, 
With suffused eyes and tear-stained cheeks. 

She pines in solitude alone. 



THE LIBERTINE'S LAMENT 

THE sunshine of my life is o'er. 
Each hour descends a darker shade. 
My heart once buoyant to the core. 
Now feels its failing vigor fade. 

My ebbing pulse is slow and tame. 
While care has wrinkled o'er my brow. 

And what was former fire and flame 
Is smoke and smouldering ashes now. 

What fiery passions unsubdued, 
What page of folly's fruitless lore. 

What path of pleasure unpursued 
Is left for me to linger o'er! 



TWO PRAYERS 67 



TWO PRAYERS 

I 

TMBUED with that emotion felt 
Which links devotion to desires 
When humans turn to Heaven for aid, 
A soldier and a slacker knelt 
Before the altar of their sires, 

And this is how the slacker prayed: 

II 

"Spare me to help preserve and rear 
A cultured type of humankind 

To better serve and praise Thee, Lord! 
Assign me, therefore, to some sphere 
Of civic welfare far behind 

The carnage wrought by shell and sword I" 



68 TWO PRAYERS 



III 

With soul to selfish hopes averse, 
Where honor's aim stood uppermost, 
The warrior made no meek appeal, 
But drilled to speak in language terse. 
And flavored like his favorite toast. 
This triple pledge renewed with zeal 

IV 

"Three solemn vows are here rehearsed 
Which flinching under no pretext 
I'll keep where'er I roam; 
My homage to my God is first, 
My service to my country next, 
And last my duty to my home." 



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